The present invention relates generally to methods for graphically displaying traffic information for television broadcast, and more specifically to utilizing real-time traffic flow data to graphically display animated images representing that traffic flow data.
Graphics used in displaying traffic information to a broadcast television or cable audience are well known in the art. Generally, these are static graphics manually placed on a background static map or placed on a web page, which is rendered into a NTSC or similar signal for broadcast television. FIG. 1 depicts an example of such a system presently used to convey traffic information on television using a flat map. Television announcers use flat static maps containing traffic information as backdrops to talk over and convey traffic conditions.
Another known system is designed and utilized by Mobility Technologies, Inc., which converts real-time traffic flow data from a proprietary system into a color coded static web image graphic such as a GIF, or JPEG format. This graphic image is retrieved over the Internet or a similar connection by a television station, which then renders the static web image into a broadcast signal such as NTSC. FIG. 2 shows an example of such a system presently used by Mobility Technologies to convey traffic flow data. In FIG. 2, traffic flow data is depicted with different status colors to represent current road conditions. The status colors (i.e., green, yellow, red) represent the traffic flow data for a particular portion, or segment of roadway. Although this data results from real-time traffic flow data, it is limited to a static display of colors with no motion to depict current road conditions. The status colors cannot change in real-time as actual road conditions change because a static web image must initially be created from the traffic flow data.
However, the method utilized by Mobility Technologies, as well as the other known methods of graphically displaying traffic information, have various disadvantages. The most significant disadvantage is that the graphical image of the traffic flow is static. That is, the graphic is simply a picture (sometimes in color) of a pre-existing traffic flow map, which is then placed on television. As such, the image is not visually appealing. The traffic flow map does not provide an automated or animated, real-time representation of the actual, current traffic conditions at the instant the image is broadcast over the television network. Furthermore, the background graphic images used to create the traffic flow map tend to have very large file sizes, even though the amount of actual traffic data which is changing in real-time is quite small in comparison to overall file size of the traffic flow map. Therefore, the transport of the image data containing the traffic flow map from the web page to the television network results in large data transport inefficiencies. Additionally, because the rendered traffic graphic is a static, raster-based image, there is presently no easy method to override an individual traffic flow segment (i.e., a discrete portion of a roadway) shown on the traffic flow map in the case of an error, or just for visual purposes of TV broadcasting.